Cover for door locks



July 24, 1951 E. N. JACOB] COVER FOR DOOR LOCKS Filed Jan. 30, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l July 24, 1951 E. N. JACOBI 2,562,033

COVER FOR DOOR LOCKS Filed Jan. 50, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 III! Edward JV: Jcabz Patented July 24, 1951 1 COVER FOR DOOR LOCKS Edward N. Jacobi, Milwaukee, Wis.,'assignor to Briggs & Stratton Corporation, Milwaukee,

Wis., a corporation ofDelawarfc Application January 30, 1950, Serial No. 141,271

8 Claims. (01. 70 455) This invention relates to looks and refers more particularly to cylinder locks of the typedesigned for use on automobile doors and decks, and which have acylinder or plug rotatable by a proper key to and from a door locking position.

Since the cylinders or plugs of such locks have their key receiving ends exposed to allsorts of weather, it is customary to provide them with a cover, generally termed a dust cover, which closes not only the key opening in the lock plug butv the entire mouth of the bore in which the plug is rotatably received.

It is desirable that such a cover be of the automatically closing type, designed to be opened by pushing the key against it to swing it edgewise away from its closed position and spring loaded so that when the key is withdrawn. the cover is automatically returned to its closed position covering the cylinder mechanism. A dust cover of "this type is shown in Patent No. 2,213,814, issued to Edward N. Jacobi September 3, 1940.

Obviously it is important that the cover mount- 'ing and closing mechanism be as simple, inexpensive and compact as possible; and it is therefore an object of this invention to provide anautomatically closing dust cover for automobile'door locks and the like which is secured to the body "of the lock by means of the same springwhic biases the cover to its closed position.

- Another object of this invention residesin the provision of a dust cover of the character described which may be inexpensively manufactured as a single die casting and which has a pivot so formed thereon as to enable the cover to be assembled-to and retained on the body of a lock "bya single quick and easy operation.

With the above and other objects in view,

which will appear as the description proceeds, "this invention resides in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinafter described and more particularly defined by the appended claims, it being "understood that such changes may be made in the precise embodiment of the herein disclosed i invention as come within the scope of the claims. The accompanying drawings illustrate one complete example of the physical embodiment of the invention constructed according to the best "mode so far devised for the practical application 1- of the principles thereof, and in which:

Figure -l is a front view of the dust cover of this invention mounted on a lock body and occupying its closed position thereon, a portion of 1": the cover being cut away to show detail;

'..'..Figure 2 is a sectional View through the cover,

pivot, taken along the plane of Figure 3 is a rear view of the lock body and cover detached from an automobile door; Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along the plane of the line 49-4 in Figure 1; and

1 Figure 5 is a perspective view of, the dust cover of this invention and the lock body on whichthe same is mounted, the two being shown separated the line 2-2 in but in their relative positionsfor, assembly.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals designate. like parts throughout the several views, the numeral 5 designates generally a lock body which is mounted, by way of illustration, on an automobile door 6. The specific lock structure shown in the. drawings is intended for use on th-eleft front or drivers door of'an automobile, but it, will be understood thatthe right hand door lock isid enti calin structure except for the necessary reversal of shapes. l

The lock body comprises a substantially cylindrical casing 1 having an integral lateral extension 8 at its front, and is preferably formed as a die casting having a plated and polished escutch'e on 9 covering the exposed front face of the extension 8. A keyactuated lock cylinder orplug II] is rotatably mounted in a bore I I in the casing whichextends forwardly through the extension Bto open to the front of the lock body. Rotational motion of this lock cylinder is, of course, transmitted through a stem or shaft (not'shown) or other connection to the door latch mechanism.

The lock body may be readily mountedfon an automobile door with the lateral extension 8 flatwise overlying the outer side of the door'and with the casing 1 preferably projecting rearwardly vthrough a sleeve 6' on. the door to the interior 'thereof, For the purpos of securing the lock mechanism in place on the door, the casing I has a shallow flat-bottomed slot l 2 along one side thereof in which a set screw I 3, threaded through thesleeve B' is adapted to engage. The slot and set screw are so .disposed that the latter is accessiblethrough an aperturein the rear side edge IA of the door structure (and thus inaccessible when the door is locked closed), and the slot in the casing is tapered to increase in depth toward the front of the lock body (i. e., is shallower in the direction of extracting the lock from the face of the door) so that the set screw tends to engage the bottom of theslot in the side of the lock body moretightly if the lock is, pulledforwardly by its key'or is pried forwardly under its extensionjby an unauthorizedperson attempting to remove. it.

'escutcheon cap ll of plated and polished sheet metal. In outline the dust cover conforms substantially to the shape of the extension 8 on the lock body but has a shallow notch la in its edge directly above the lock cylinder, in which the key is adapted to be guidingly received to permit the key to be used as a pusher whereby the cover may be pressed downwardly and thus edgewise swung to its open position (indicated by a broken line IS in Figure 1). The notch also provides clearance for the key to enable it to be inserted into the keyway without necessitating excessive movement of the cover.

The inner face or underside IQ of the cover is slightly hollowed, so as to provide a marginal rim which abuts the front face of the extension 8 on the lock body. This rim has a slight downward recess 2| at its lowest point which, in the closed position of the cover, coincides with a drain hole 22 in the extension 8, directly below the lock cylinder. Any moisture accumulating behind the cover will settle into this recess and then fiow through the drain hole, to the rear of the extension 8 and thence down into the door structure, to be thus carried away from the keyway so that there will be no possibility of such water freezing in the lock mechanism.

The cover is mounted for edgewise swinging movement across the front face of the extension 8 on the lock body by means of a pair of post-like stem members 23 which extend rearwardly from the under-side of the cover and together define a bifurcated trunnion which is rotatably journaled in a second bore 24 in the lateral extension of the lock body, spaced from the bor ll andparallel thereto. A conical torsion and compression spring 25 concentrically surrounds the stem members and serves closed position and at'the same time urge it rearwardly into firm engagement with the frontof the lock body. Forthis purpose, the spring has a'laterally inwardly extending end portion 26 at its apex which is received between the posts to torsionally bias the stem toward the closed-position of the cover, and a laterally outwardly extending portion 21 at its other end which reacts against the lock body.

The rear of body'is slightly hollowed to provide a wide shallow recess 32 which accommodates the spring and the rear extremity of the trunnion. The outwardly extending straight end portion of the spring lies in the junction of the bottom 33 of the recess and the marginal rim 34 thereof-and reacts torsionally against the rim of the recess to bias the cover to its normally closed position, while the expansive force of the spring, exerted against the bottom of the recess and a flangelike lug 35 on the rear of each of the posts, urges the cover rearwardly into firm engagement with the front of the lock body.

The cross section of each-of the-posts or stem members is substantially a segment of a circle, the apexes of the segments being spaced from one another by a distance at least equal to'the diameter of the spring wire, to enabletheinner endportion of the spring to be inserted between the posts by forward translating movement. The

to bias the cover toward its the lateral extension of the lock 1 ill flat faces 31 and 38 on each of the two posts are so disposed with respect to the corresponding flat faces on the other post as to face in opposite directions and lie in parallel, spaced apart planes. The straight inwardly extending end portion 26 of the spring is interposed between the posts and extends transverse to the trunnion axis, lying lengthwise along the flat faces 31 of the posts, which thus provide the effect of opposite jaws which do not align with one another, being laterally displaced along the inturned length of the spring wire. The flat faces 31 of the posts thus receive the torsional force of the conical spring, whereby the cover is at all times biased to its closed position.

The spring is compressed forwardly, as well as helically, and its rearward biasing force is taken by the lateral lugs 35 on the rear of the posts, each extending from one post toward the opposite post and substantially perpendicular to the fiat face 31 against which the inwardly turned end portion of the spring reacts. The two lugs thus cooperate to receive the rearward thrust of the spring by which the cover is urged into firm engagement with the front of the lateral extension on the lock body. The free side edgeof each lug is spaced from the opposite post face 38 a sufficient distance. to define a slot into which the inner end portion 26 of the spring is adapted to be inserted by forward movement in the direction of the trunnion axis. As the outer end portion 21 of the spring is rotated about the trunnion axis to bring it into position against the rim 34 at the rear of the lateral extension-of the lock body, and the inner end portion 26 .is simultaneously pressed forwardly, the inner end hooks into place ahead of the lugs, assuming; the

position shown in Figure 3.

To define the open and closed positions of-the cover, and particularly to retain the cover in its predetermined closed position into which it is biased by the spring, a stud 40 on thecover extending from its underside parallel to the trunnion and spaced therefrom, rides in an arcuate slot 4| in the lateral extension on the front of the lock body.

Because the rear face of the look bodyextension is hollowed or recessed in the neighborhood of the bore 24 to accommodate the spring, and the wall of the extension is therefore relatively thin, an annular rim or shoulder 42 extends forwardly of the front face of the lock body and surrounds the trunnion bore 24 to provide adequate bearing surface for the trunnion.

Both the lock body and the dust cover of this invention lend themselves particularly well to die casting, since each is designed in a manner to simplify coring.

To facilitatedie casting the cover, both faces 31 and 38 of each post diverge forwardly (i. e., the posts decrease in cross section toward'the cover, as best seen in Figure 2) so that the slot or space between the posts may be cored from the front side of the cover through the thickness of the cover and to the rear of the stem to thus also define the lugs atthe rear of the stem. This accounts for the .-apertu re 43 in the face of the cover through which the core portion of one die mold member is withdrawn from between the slots, the taper-of the posts providing draft to facilitate such withdrawal. This aperture, of course, is closed by the polished sheet metal cap I! which fits over the front face of the cover. Thus in die casting the cover of this invention the slot between the posts and the spring abutment lugs maybe molded; without the need for separate core members. The 'lock body is similarly adapted to'be die cast without complicated coring procedure, the taperfof'the set screw slot I2 along the side ofthe casing providing draft to facilitate withdra'wal of a core portion of the mold member which forms thefront face of the body, which core portion projects rearwardly through the lateral extension on the body in the same manner as -the core'portion which provides the slot between the posts on the cover casting. The arcuate bean slot 41 in the lateral extension ofthe lock body is therefore somewhat irregular in shape, as at '45, to provide for this rearwardly projecting core portion, but this irregularity is concealed; at the front'face of the body, by the polished sheet metal escutcheon 9.

From the foregoing'description; taken together with :the accompanying drawings, it-will be readily apparent that this invention provides an unusually simple and inexpensive mounting for a dust cover for an'automobile' lock or the like, by mean's o'f which the cover may be secured in place single-spring which serves to bias the cover towardits'closed position and at all times urges t cover rearwardly into firm engagement with ftile loc body.

' 'What I claim as my invention is: I

1. In a lock of the character described: a body having a bore opening to the front face thereof and having a lateral extension provided with a bore parallel to the first named bore; a lock cylinder rotatable in the first named bore; a cover for the mouth of said first named bore; a bifurcated pivot post on the underside of the cover projecting rearwardly through the second named bore to the rear of said extension to mount said cover for edgewise swinging motion to and from a closed position covering the mouth of said first named bore; a coiled torsion and compression spring at the rear of said extension surrounding the rear portion of said post and having one of its end portions extending laterally inwardly between the bifurcations of the pivot post and its other end portion engaging a portion on the body and reacting against the same to torsional- 1y bias the pivot post in a direction which swings the cover toward closed position; a lug on at least one of the bifurcations of the pivot post, extending toward the other and against which said inwardly extending end portion of the spring reacts so that the expansive force of the spring urges the cover rearwardly toward the lock body; and cooperating stop means on said cover and on the body for defining the closed position of the cover.

2. The lock structure set forth in claim 1, further characterized by the fact that said lug extends only partway from said one bifurcation of the pivot post toward the other bifurcation, so that the free edge of said lug and said other bifurcation define a slot into which said inwardly extending end portion of the spring is adapted to be inserted during assembly of the lock, to enable it to be hooked ahead of said lug.

3. In a lock of the character described: a lock body having a bore opening to its front face to receive the cylinder of the lock; a lateral extension on the front of said lock body having a hole therethrough parallel to the bore in the lock body; a cover for the face of said lock body; a post-like stem extending rearwardly from said cover and rotatably received in said hole to mount the cover for swinging motion to and from a position over the mouth of the here;- said stem "be ing slotted from its rear end towardsthec'over to provide opposed segments; -a lug extending laterally from the rear of each'segmeritpartway toward the other segment; a coiled torsion-and compression spring surrounding the stem; means connecting one' end of the spring to the lateral extension ofthe lock body so as to react'torsionally'and axially against-the rear of'saidextension; and the other end portion of the spring extending laterally inwardly between the stem segments ahead of the lugs thereon soas to torsionally bias the stem and cover against swinging away from a position at-which the cover closes the mouth'of the bore in'the' bodygand-fto exert a rearward axial force on the'lugs on? the stem segments to urge the cover rearwardly toward theface-of the lock'body. 4. As 'an articleof manufacture: a relatively flat coverymeans defining a trunnion integral withthe cover and extending rearwardly f-rom the underside of the cover, perpendicular thereto, bifurcations on the rear of the trunnion, spaced apart substantially diametrically opposite abutmentson said bifurcations, said abutments being spaced at opposite'sides of and facing a plane containing the trunnionaxis, and a lug on eachbifurcation-rearwardlyadjacent to it abut- 'mentand extending across said plane'to provide a surface facing the underside of the cover and spaced therefrom.

5. As an article of manufacture: a relatively flat cover; trunnion means integral with the cover and extending rearwardly from the underside of the cover, perpendicular thereto, said trunnion means comprising a pair of spaced apart postlike stem members having substantially radial side faces which intersect along lines spaced from the axis of the trunnion at opposite side of said axis, a pair of said faces, one on each of said stem members, being spaced at opposite sides of a plane containing the trunnion axis and being substantially parallel to said plane, and lugs on the stem members projecting laterally from said pair of faces to define surfaces facing the underside of the cover and spaced therefrom.

6. In a lock of the type having a lock body with a forwardly opening bore therein to rotatably receive a key operable cylinder, a lateral extension of the front of the body, and a cover adapted to swing edgewise across the front of the body to and from a closed position covering the mouth of said bore, means for mounting the cover on said body and for yieldingly resisting opening motion of the cover, comprising: stem means on the cover extending rearwardly from the underside of the cover and defining a trunnion rotatable in a bore in said extension parallel to said first named bore, said stem means being bifurcated; a coiled compression and torsion spring surrounding said trunnion at the rear of said lateral extension and having one of its end portion engaged with the lock body and its other end portion extending laterally inwardly between said bifurcations and engaged with the same to torsionally bias the cover toward closed position; and a lug on the rear of each of said bifurcations overlying said inwardly extending end portion of the spring to receive the expansive force thereof so, that the spring at all times urges the trunnion rearwardly to bias the cover into firm engagement with the lock body.

7. In a lock of the type having a lock body with a forwardly opening bore therein to rotatably receive a key operable cylinder, a lateral extension oithe frontof the .body. andralcover adapted toswing; edgewise. across the front .of the body to and from a closed position coveringthe mouth .of said bore, means for mounting; thecover on saidjbody; and. for yieldingly resisting. opening motion of. theoover, comprising; stem means von the cover extending 'rearwardly therefrom and def fining-a .trunnion journaled. in a bore saidexe tension parallel to said firstnamed. bore, said stern means. being bifurcated. to.v define arear.- wardly opening slot; a. coiled. compression and torsion spring surrounding said. trunnion atrthe rear of saidlateralextension and having oneof its end portions engaged. with the lockbody and ts other. end portion extending laterally inwardly intosaid slot andbetween said bifurcations; and as lugontherear of at leastone of said bifurcar tions under which said inwardly extending ;portionofthespring hooks and against which it exertserearward. bias, .to urgethecover into. firm engagement with the frontof the body.

8-. In alock-of the character described: alock bodyhaving. a bore opening to its. front face to receive-,thecylinderg of the lock; a cover. for the mouthoflsa-id bore; means mounting the cover. on the-body for .swingingmotion to and from .a position flatwise engaging the .front face of the .body and .closing-themouth of theborertherein, said means. comprising atrunnion rotatably j ournaled 8. inzthe body, said trunnion having one of. its. ends joined to the. cover. andhaving bifurcations at its opposite: end providing opposed. segments; 9. lug extending. laterally; fromeach segment and providingean abutment. facing the first designated end. of-. the trunnion; av coiledtorsion .andcom e pression spring surrounding said trunnion, said spring having one-end reacting against thelock- REFERENCES CITED.

The following references areof recorctxmithe file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Numbe Name i Dates. 1,439,038. Teioh .Dec. .19, 19.22 1,517,924; Teich Dec. ,2, v19.24: 2,343,605 Wise- Mar. 7, 1944 2,355,300 Johnstone .-Aug.. 8. 1944 2,400,229 Freeman May 14,1946 

